Meaningful Life and Death-Dealing with death:

Death in itself may cause many individuals to doubt life’s’ meaning. Life may be tragic but that’s simply because the earth turns and the sun rises and sets on a daily basis. However, it is inevitable that one day, for each of us the sun will raise and set for the very last time…

Fear is a defensive behaviour basic to survival. It is the body’s auto-immune response that prepares the body for the “fight “or “flight” from a real or perceived threat. Hence, specific fears may include the following; fear of moment of death itself, the process of dying, pain, physical suffering or the facing of the unknown (Webster- “definition of fear”, 2018). The relevant grief education should be provided to all those involved in service provision to the deceased, including funeral directors, religious and spiritual leaders, general practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors , nurses and the wider community. A need for contextually relevant bereavement and grief literature appears to be imperative and necessary for all service providers to acquire. It is imperative towards proper care and management of grief, so as to relief suffering and potential long term consequences of the loss or the passing of a patient (Breen and O’Connor, 2007).

Based on a recent clinical experience where I was faced with the death of one of my patients. For this specific clinical block I was placed on a neuro block which resulted in me dealing with many stroke patients. In this specific incident I was given a 62 year old female who had suffered a right CVA which had left her with left sided hemi paresis as well as aphasia. Hence, it was challenging for me to get a very good subjective interview and I had to rely on the very limited amount of info I found in the doctors folder. I then decided to continue with my observations and objective assessment as my patient had attempted nodding indicating she was okay with it and showed she was able to understand me. During my treatment session as part of treatment I had transferred my patient into a chair from the bed in which I had to apply moderate assistance. I had placed her affected upper limb on a pillow with her hand open and had also restrained my patient to the chair for safety purposes. I had informed the nursing staff that I only wanted my patient to sit out in the chair for an hour and asked if they could transfer her back to bed after that hour in which they had agreed.

The following morning when I had arrived at the specific ward to treat my patient the nursing staff had informed me that she had passed away moments after I had transferred her into the chair. I was so shocked as my patient seemed perfectly fine as she even tried to communicate with me through nodding etc and her vitals seemed stable the day prior. This had caught me off guard as I began questioning my actions on that day; Have I tired her out so much  during the session that she was not able to bare it? Or if I wasn’t that attentive to her and maybe missed something as I had left?

It was surfaced that dealing with death for me is a challenging thing. I began feeling extremely hesitant to treat my patients following this incident in the fear of something like that occurring again. This specific incident had hindered me from doing an adequate treatment session with my patients because of the fear I had now developed of my patients dying. Death may be defined as the irreversible cessation of all vital functions especially as indicated by permanent stoppage of the heart, respiration as well as brain activity (Webster- “definition of death”, 2018).

Therefore, what I have learnt and realised after this specific clinical incident is that death in itself may be commonly considered as a sad or unpleasant occasion due to the affection of the being which has died (Castano et al., 2011). Many people that I have told my story to have told me that, I should not blame myself for what had happened as death is an inevitable event that will occur. In many spiritual and religious beliefs it is said that death may occur at any time and that if it is your time to leave this earth it will be your time regardless of the manner in which you leave (Castano et al., 2011). Hence, if similar future events should arise I will be more prepared and will not let my fear of death may hinder my competence in future physiotherapy treatment sessions. I should always provide adequate healthcare to patients in order to help them gain as much independence as possible whilst their stay in hospital. We are all determinants of our own life; what we accept as a good quality of life and what we decide makes our life worth living for.

References:

Breen, L., & O’Connor, M. (2007). The Fundamental Paradox in the Grief Literature: A Critical Reflection. OMEGA – Journal Of Death And Dying, 55(3), 199-218. doi: 10.2190/om.55.3.c

Castano, E., Leidner, B., Bonacossa, A., Nikkah, J., Perrulli, R., Spencer, B. and Humphrey, N. (2011). Ideology, Fear of Death, and Death Anxiety. Political Psychology, 32(4), pp.601-621.

Definition of DEATH. (2018) Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death

Definition of FEAR. (2018) Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fear